We continue with the non-canonical adventures of Mr. Sherlock Holmes. When we last left our heroes, Holmes was hot on the trail of the nefarious Moriarty, while Watson was trying to come up with a plan to get Holmes help with his cocaine addiction.

In this issue, he teams up with Holmes’ brother Mycroft to try to lure the detective unwittingly to Vienna, where he can be treated. Unfortunately, getting Holmes to do anything unwittingly is pretty close to impossible. They hatch a plan to lead him on a false trail to Moriarty, which will actually end in Vienna—but even when cocaine has his mind past all reason, Holmes may still prove too clever for either of them.

I find it kind of odd that the reason why they need to take Holmes to Vienna for treatment has been alluded to and hinted at since issue #1, but not actually given a big reveal until the end of this issue. It plays like a giant surprise. Except . . . if you read the title page of either issue, it’s quite plain exactly who it is that waits for them in Vienna. I don’t know if the original book this is based on revealed it right away or kept it a secret, but it’s very odd for the comic to try and do both simultaneously.

In spite of that, however, this continues to be a fun and exciting story. The story feels very Holmes-like, even with a different author—which is more difficult to pull off successfully than people think. It’s fun to see the great detective use his powers of deduction to solve the mystery that’s been set before him—and even more fun since we know that the mystery is really only a clever ruse.

I assume that an actual mystery will surface before the story is finished, and that it will in all likelihood involve Professor Moriarty, who up to this point seems merely an innocent pawn. I’m not sure how many issues we have left of the story, but I hope it’s a fair few, because there appears to be a lot more ground worth covering here, and I’d hate to think that the story was half over already.

All that is to say that this is a good comic and a great adventure, and I’m enjoying it very much. If you’re a fan of Sherlock Holmes, or mysteries in general, you likely will enjoy it, too.